Radiation Danger

April 11, 1985|By Dan Hinson from wite reports

SAN FRANCISCO — Th Navy sent pilot John Molsbergen on a mission to Nagasaki shortly after the Japanese city was hit with an atom bomb in 1945. In11981 he died ofccancer. The chagge by his widow, Irma: The cancer was caused by exposure to radiation and he was not warned. Her wrongful death suit against the government was dismissed in U.S. District Court but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it, saying a wanning should have been given. What this means: A crack has been opeed in the doctrine that has prevented veterans from suing for injuries suffered from service-connected duties. James Geagan, an attorney for Mrs. Molsbergen, said it could affect hundreds of similar suits around the nation.